A decade ago the Ohio State Department of Youth Services (DYS) operated 10 juvenile detention centers with a population of 1,949. Today, DYS has five juvenile facilities with 736 youthful offenders, a whopping 62% reduction.
A federal lawsuit prompted the state to move quickly with plans that had previously been made to implement corrective actions in the state’s flawed juvenile justice system. The federal court installed a team of 13 monitors to examine medical, mental health, education and dental programs. Another area of concern that the team looked into was how noncompliant youth were disciplined.
Reducing staff by 13.5 (300 workers, including parole officers) in a two year time frame has existing employees worried about the potential loss of their jobs. On March 26, a protest was held against the closing of the Ohio River Valley Juvenile Correctional Facility, scheduled for September.
A 12-bed facility with an annual budget of $1.4 million, the Franklin County Community Based Treatment Center, is closing on June 30. The $1.4 million is going to be used to provide alternatives to incarceration programs for juveniles. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation is seeking to bring about the same type of changes for its adult prisoners, and has reduced this year’s budget by $41 million.
The new goals of DYS is to assure that juvenile offenders with serious criminal convictions will get a higher standard of care that includes education, mental/substance abuse treatment, sex-offender programs, and recreational activities. Those juveniles considered to be low-risk will be placed in alternatives to incarceration programs. Ohio already has 130,000 juveniles placed in 650 existing programs. The rate of juveniles sent to juvenile detention facilities has dropped from 21% in 2000, to almost 13% in 2010. Ohio would like to progress to the point of becoming the leading state in juvenile justice reform.
Source: Columbus Dispatch
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